


Fate On The Subway

by aesthetixoxo



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 09:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7431399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aesthetixoxo/pseuds/aesthetixoxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who Lucas want to pick and who Lucas actually picks are... two very different things. What happens if he doesn't pick either of them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fate On The Subway

Neither of them.

Lucas’ choice had been… neither of them. Which, despite being hurt, both girls were okay with. Riley had learned that even though her parents ended up together, not all high school sweethearts did. And Maya hadn’t had any hope he would pick her, anyways - at least that’s what she said when he told them. They sat, just the three of them this time, at the bay window. 

Lucas needed to say what he had to say, but he could only say it to Riley and Maya. He couldn’t face the disappointment of both their families. And Farkle and Zay, he felt, wouldn’t understand his decision. So it was just the three of them, and they sat for a long while before he finally came out and told them his choice.   
There was a long silence, and then Lucas left, and Maya and Riley hugged for what felt like years. Maya wanted to get angry and Riley wanted to cry, but they both knew that this was the only choice where neither girl would end up hurt in the long run, even if they were hurt now. 

So they didn’t do either of those things. They just hugged. This was the only choice that could save their friendship, so they were happy too, as much as they were sad. Except, Lucas’ decision didn’t save their friendship. It might have even ruined it.

Lucas still like Riley. Riley still liked Lucas. Lucas still liked Maya. Maya still liked Lucas. And over time those feelings just grew, but they all kept them bottled up. Farkle and Zay and Smackle could see it, but no one made a comment because… Well, because Lucas had made his choice and they didn’t feel right changing it.

Eventually Lucas decided to move back to Texas, leaving his best friends behind. Farkle and Smackle transferred to another high school, and they still kept in touch with the other three at Abigail Adams high school, but it wasn’t the same.

Maya and Zay ended up together by junior year, but they broke up by senior year cause it just didn’t feel right, but they had given it a good chance. Eventually, like Riley suspected would happen all along, Maya got together with Josh. This brought Maya and Riley even closer together, and Riley loved Maya, but she just felt… Lonely.

And then she saw him, in the same seat he had been in many years before, just on a different subway. And her heart started beating. 

“Lucas?” Her eyebrows furrow as she turns to look at him, her grip on the metal pole tightening. He looks up, his eyes widening when he realizes who it is 

“Riley.” He says as she walks over to sit by him. The subway cart lurches… and she ends up falling into his lap. It almost felt like fate, but Riley had given up her fairytale dreams a long time ago.

She stands up, giving him an awkward smile, and sits in the seat besides him. “Hi”

“Hey…”  
“Hi.”

Neither of them know what to say. It had been so long, and that made Riley sad because she promised him they would always be there for each other, and they hadn’t been. She knew it wasn’t his fault, it was nobody’s fault, life just got in the way, but she should be able to say more than just HI! 

“So what have you been up to?” Lucas finally manages, and Riley shrugs.  
“Nothing much, still living with my parents while I got to NYU.” She bites her lip, looking down at the ground. She missed hearing his voice, missed looking into his pretty blue eyes. “I’m majoring in psychology. I wanna be a therapist. I just want… I want to help people with their problems.” She settles.

Lucas smiles softly at her, and she smiles back. There’s another long silence, but this one is filled with hope, and as much as Maya had taught her that hope brought disappointment, she also knew hope was the only light you had when he world was dark. So they sat in silence until the train finally stopped. 

They both stood up at the same time, simultaneously saying “This is my sto-”. They look at each other and laugh and follow one another off the subway cart. 

“That’s really nice.” Lucas finally states as they walk down the streets of New York together. Riley doesn’t know where either of them are going, but she doesn’t care. “About you being a therapist, I mean. You always had a way with people. You certainly helped Maya through some things. And Farkle, too. I miss them.” 

“Maya is doing good,” Riley says, gauging his reaction. He doesn’t seem to react, so she continues. “She decided to go the less conventional way and just do art by herself.”

“I think we can see one of her murals if we go down this street.” Riley notes, realizing where they are. Lucas follows her and comes to a haunt when Riley stops, looking up at the building next to them. It’s about three feet by six feet, and depicts a blonde girl, hair hiding her face, holding a cat in her lap. 

A purple cat, to be exact. She is sitting in a meadow surrounded by flowers, the night sky shining starts above her. At the bottom there’s a quote. “Flowers don’t grow where sun doesn’t shine.” Lucas observes the hidden beauty that most passer-Byers wouldn’t get if they didn’t know Maya, if they didn’t know Maya and Riley. 

“It’s beautiful.” Lucas comments, reaching out to touch it. He runs his fingers along the lines of the purple cat, feeling the bumps on the building. He likes it, it gives it texture, and makes it somehow more beautiful than it was already. Riley nods. 

“She’s so good at this. I was always so jealous. I never thought I’d find my talent.” They turned, walking back in the direction they had come from in hopes of not getting lost. “I found it, but I lost a part of myself that I had to spend too long searching for.”

Lucas sighs, his hands in his pocket as their steps fall in sync. “I know how you feel. I thought going back to Texas would help so much.” He shakes his head, making a face of disgust. 

“Didn’t do a thing except make me miss my friends. I made new ones easily, but it’s hard to replace someone as interesting and smart as Farkle or as talented and wild as maya.”  
Riley nods her agreement as he speaks, looking up at the stars. She loved to do that late at night, out on her balcony, where it reminded her of Maya’s mural.

“And it’s impossible to replace someone as beautiful and sweet as Riley Matthews.” Lucas finally says, catching Riley by surprise. She looks up at him into realize he’s already staring at her. She feels the heat creeping up her neck. All she can muster out is a quiet “thank you,” and they fall into silence. 

“You want a bite to eat?” Lucas asks, stopping in front of a diner. He had no clue where they had been going, but Martha’s cafe seemed as good a place as any. Riley shrugs and enterS the door as Lucas holds it for her. They head for a both in the back, and both take a few minutes to browse the menus.

When the waitress comes over, Riley hands her the menu with the order of a milkshake and fries. Lucas looks at her and smiles. “I’ll have what she’s having.” He said, handing the laminated menu to the waitress. 

And they sit, eating their fries and drinking their milkshakes and Talking, and Riley never wants the night to end

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first GMW/Rucas Drabble, and my first writing in a long time (if you couldn't tell by the last time I posited something whoops...) but anyways, I take requests as always!


End file.
